The Right Time to Say Goodbye
by Little Falcon
Summary: All she wanted was the truth... and nothing more... tragedy...


**The Right Time to Say Goodbye**

_A/N: Minna-san this is my first time writing a fanfic for this series so please I really need to hear what you have to say… read and review onegaii…_

"Ne, Conan-kun, let's go to the carnival," a the nineteen year old girl with waist length brown hair smiled at the five year old kid that was playing with his soccer ball. "Okay…" Conan replied as he stopped kicking the ball and looked at Ran. Her expression was unreadable though she looks depressed, there's something deeper than that sadness and even the Great Teenage Detective Shinichi Kudo can not tell what.

Their time together was just like always laughing and shouting at each other like siblings but of course his eyes hidden behind his geeky eye glasses saw her pretense… a forced laugh and the way she would turn away just to prevent him from seeing her pain. _What's wrong Ran? _His small hand unconsciously gripped his chest as he gazed at her.

"Let's try that one," Ran finally snapped out of her depressed state and pointed at the ferris wheel. Without replying, the boy only held her hand and led the way. As they were ascending, her brown eyes wandered to the little boy that was leaning on the window to see the sight below. _All I wanted was the truth and nothing more… _"Conan-kun, I'm leaving," the boy immediately turned his head to look at her.

"Why?" his child-like tone disappeared and somehow he sounded so mature.

"I'll be studying somewhere else," she was surprised with the way Conan looked at her, with his serious eyes and stern voice as he asked.

"Where?" he demanded an answer as the sun set behind him.

"Sorry… I can't tell you where," she averted her eyes from him to the sinking orange ball in front of her. "I can't tell you because… I don't want to be found…" she continued to stare at the sunset as the kid clenched his small fists.

"Is it because of Shinichi-niichan?" Ran tore her eyes from the scene to Conan.

"I'll be lying if I said no but I'll be exaggerating if I said yes. Maybe he's more than half of the reason I'm leaving… maybe not," she too was confused with her reply. "I got tired of waiting," her statement was like searing iron through his chest. "I thought if I waited… and waited… he'll come back… but… not all people can wait…" her vision became clouded as tears sprung from her eyes.

"Just give him two more days. I'm sure he'll come back!" Conan reassured her as he too felt like crying. _Doctor Agasa's already making a cure. I'll come back to you Ran just wait a little longer. _Her only reply was a silent smile. Alighting from the ride, the two walked around hand in hand. "I'm sorry Conan-kun… I'm done waiting," she said in a low tone as tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Ran…" the kid stopped walking and addressed her in a way Shinichi always did. "The truth is… I'm Shinichi," the girl slowly turned her head to look at the boy beside her. _Too late… _their eyes met for the briefest moment before Ran broke away.

"What are saying?" she tapped the boy's shoulder lightly. "I know you don't want me to leave but I'm sorry I have to," her eyes turned soft as she expressed her sincerity through her eyes.

"I AM SHINICHI! WHY WON'T YOU BELIEVE ME?" he wanted so much to stop her from crying but he knew only he, as Shinichi, would be able to do so. His eyes stung and before he knew it tears were flowing from his eyes. Being agitated at his helpless state, he ran away from her.

"Conan-kun!" he heard her call.

"…Sayonara," she whispered as her tears fell to the very spot where she and Shinichi separated the night before his sudden disappearance.

"DAMN IT! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!" the little boy cursed as he kept running. _Why won't you believe me, Ran? _His tears ran ceaselessly from his eyes as he head towards his house. "Agasa-Sensei!" he almost knocked the door down with his small fists.

"Conan…" a fat doctor with round glasses opened the door.

"I need the antidote… NOW!" the little boy demanded as he invited himself in.

"I can speed up the process but… the best I can do is tomorrow morning," the doctor held his chin.

That night, Conan didn't come home. Ran was relieved to hear that the boy was staying at the doctor's place though she also was sad that she wasn't able to say her farewell properly.

His bones felt like melting and his insides were on fire seconds after he took the pill. _Ran just wait for me… I'll return… don't you dare go away! _His vision grew dim as his body returned to normal.

"Ran!" his eyes snapped open. After getting dressed, he raced to the detective agency. "RAN! RAN! RAN!" he desperately yelled as he banged at the closed door. Easily picking the lock, he found the office empty. _Don't you dare leave me Ran…_ his vision grew blurry as tears from his eyes as he ran down the streets to find her.

A noisy police car caught his attention. The car stopped right in front of him. "Shinichi get in!" the chief inspector opened the door for him.

"Not now… I'm looking for…"

"JUST GET IN!" there was desperation in his voice so Shinichi had no choice but to comply.

"What's the matter?" he immediately asked as they drove off. Neither the police driver nor the inspector answered his question. His eyes narrowed as his guts told him something was so darn wrong.

After a few minutes of swift driving, they arrived at the airport where dozens of people flock around a crime scene. "HOW CAN THIS HAPPEN?" a male voice he knew all too well welcomed his arrival. Shinichi strained to find the source as he heard someone got shot.

"Detective Mori," the Chief Inspector made his way to the crowd.

_What is he… _he lazily asked himself but was then cut short when his eyes wandered to the body surrounded with crimson blood on the marbled floor. His heart stopped, as his pupils dilated, his breath became shorter as he slowly approached the body.

Brown, waist length hair, long slim legs, calloused hands, slender fingers. His eyes widened then he ran to turn over the body. Disturbing a crime scene was a fault he would never commit but now was different. The police, inspector and even Detective Mori himself didn't react when Shinichi held the victim's body. Her blood staining his white shirt as his tears drop to her cold cheeks. "RAN!" his voices echoed throughout the airport.

She was killed by an assassin hired to threaten detective Mori but Detective Mori fearlessly put the killer and his boss behind bars. This was the first case he solved on his own. "But you know… she was supposed to board an earlier flight," the detective invited Shinichi over for a cup of tea, days after Ran's death. "It was as if she's waiting for someone to show up," the grieving father looked at his cup of coffee.

His hands shook and his eyes turned glassy again. _Was she… was he waiting… for… me? _"Oh that's right, the kid named Conan is a relative of that doctor right? Here," Mori handed a school bag to the teenager. "Now that Ran's not around, I don't think I'll be able to take care of him. Can you explain the situation to him gently? That kid and Ran were pretty close…" the father's tears dropped to his coffee creating ripples. Without a word, Shinichi ran out of the detective agency.

"DAMN IT!" he threw the school bag to the wall, making its contents scatter all over his room. His sharp eyes immediately saw something strange. An envelope was stuck in between the pages of his elementary math book. "To Conan-kun…" he recognized the handwriting to be Ran's so he immediately tore the envelope open.

_Conan-kun,_

_I'm sorry I can't say my goodbye properly. The truth is… I'm doing this not because I wanted to run away from Shinichi. I'm doing this for myself. While I waited for him to return, I realized I'm only waiting for myself… to be ready to let go. It took a while and I'm sure I'm not 100 percent ready to forget but… I'll learn eventually… you just wait. _

_Conan-kun, since the day you've started living with us, I've asked you nineteen times if you were Shinichi… and you always deny it. But then this afternoon… why did you admit it all of a sudden? Is it because you don't want me to leave? _

_The truth is… I already know you are Shinichi. At first, I couldn't believe it. But then… you're deductive skills… even your small mannerisms are that of Shinichi's. I'm disappointed in you… the Shinichi I knew never lied to me… not even once. I only pretended not to know because I expected that someday… maybe… you'll tell me. But… I got tired of waiting. That day on the ferris wheel ride… that was my last hope… that somehow you'll tell me who you're Shinichi. If you did, I would've undoubtedly remained. I'm really sorry… I know you have your reasons but right now… I'm in no position to understand you…_

His tears that he had been preventing to fall, quickly trickled down his cheeks to the last statement she wrote.

_Here's my challenge… if you really are the Great Teenage Detective Shinichi Kudo… come find me… _

His stared at the letter as his fingers gripped it tightly. This was the only case… even the _Great Teenage Detective Shinichi Kudo_ can never solve.

_A/N: Oh my god! Despite being a tragic story hater I had written a tragedy myself how ironic. Read and review onegai… _


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